Collapsible stand

ABSTRACT

A collapsible stand which includes an upright member and at least three legs secured to the upright member at the lower end thereof with the legs extending outwardly and downwardly therefrom below the lower end of the upright member. A flexible elongated chain connects the legs and the upright member to brace the legs with respect to the upright member. Leg pads are secured to the chain in positions along the chain for telescopingly receiving the lower ends of the legs. A chain-fastening member is removably mounted at the lower end of the upright member and has means secured to the elongated brace in positions angularly about the upright member. A work-holding device is mounted on the upper end of the upright member and has a pair of arms diverging upwardly therefrom forming a generally V-shaped saddle for receiving a cylindrical workpiece. Roller assemblies are mounted on each of the support arms with rollers rotatable about parallel axes extending generally perpendicular to the plane of the V to permit the cylindrical workpiece to be rotated about its axis while being supported on the rollers.

United tates Patent [72] Inventor William E. Petrie 18711 S. Cicero Ave, Tinley Park, Ill. 60477 [21] Appl. No. 829,830 [22] Filed Mar. 25, 1969 Division Ser. No. 690,561, Dec. 14, 1967, abandoned [45] Patented Aug. 31, 1971 [54] COLLAPSIBLE STAND 13 Claims, 8 Drawing Figs.

[52] U.S. C1 269/296, 248/55, 269/289 [51] Int. Cl. B23q 3/00 [50] Field of Search 269/289, 289.1, 296, 297, 298, 299, 300, 301, 302, 311; 248/55, 157; 10/107 PH [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 994,598 6/1911 Martin 248/157 2,653,347 9/1953 Diekman.... 269/296 X 2,675,132 4/1954 Susil.... 248/55 UX 2,733,330 l/l956 Blewett 269/296X 2,775,077 12/1956 Whittenberg 269/289.1UX 2,825,477 3/1958 Ross 269/296X Primary Examiner Andrew R. Juhasz Assistant ExaminerDonald D. Evenson At!orney-1-lofgren, Wegner, Allen, Stellman & McCord ABSTRACT: A collapsible stand which includes an upright member and at least three legs secured to the upright member at the lower end thereof with the legs extending outwardly and downwardly therefrom below the lower end of the upright member. A flexible elongated chain connects the legs and the upright member to brace the legs with respect to the upright member. Leg pads are secured to the chain in positions along the chain for telescopingly receiving the lower ends of the legs. A chain-fastening member is removably mounted at the lower end of the upright member and has means secured to the elongated brace in positions angularly about the upright member. A work-holding device is mounted on the upper end of the upright member and has a pair of arms diverging upwardly therefrom forming a generally V-shaped saddle for receiving a cylindrical workpiece. Roller assemblies are mounted on each of the support arms with rollers rotatable about parallel axes extending generally perpendicular to the plane of the V to permit the cylindrical workpiece to be rotated about its axis while being supported on the rollers.

PATENIEU was] ISII 3,502 .492

COLLAPSIBLE STAND This is a division of application Ser. No. 690,561 filed Dec. 14, 1967, now abandoned.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION My U.S. Pat. No. 3,313,505 discloses a collapsible stand which can be used by a plumber or a pipefitter for a temporary support for a length of pipe or like workpiece while he is working on it. Other devices used to support pipes had been made by the tradesman on the job, normally having all welded construction. Such on-the-job stands could not be dismantled and since they were bulky, the storage of such stands present a great problem. The stands were usually discarded by the tradesman after the job for which they were used had been completed. The above-named patent and the disclosure herein provide a stand which can be taken apart for storage when not in use, quickly and easily assembled when required, and is adjustable to various heights. The stand may easily be stored in a carrying case or a workshop and requires little space. The invention herein incorporates improvements in the collapsible stand. This invention includes improved means for fastening the chain brace to the legs and upright post, and also an improved work-holding saddle at the top of the stand which rotatably supports a pipe.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION An object of this invention is to provide an improved collapsible stand for a temporary support of pipe or the like which can be disassembled and stored when not in use.

Another object of this invention is to provide in a collapsible stand of the character described a new and improved means at the lower end of the legs of the stand for fastening the flexible chain or similar brace means thereto.

A further object of this invention is to provide a collapsible stand of the character described which includes an improved means for fastening the flexible chain or similar brace means to the lower end of an upright support.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a workholding device which permits pipe or similar workpiece to be rotated about its axis while being supported by the stand.

Yet a further object of this invention is to provide a structure as set forth in the preceding paragraph which includes a V-shaped saddle at the top of the stand with rollers or rotatable balls mounted for rotation relative to the saddle to permit pipe or similar workpiece supported thereon to be rotated about the axis.

Still another object of this invention is to provide means for adjusting the location of the rollers relative to the apex of the V-shaped saddle to accommodate cylindrical workpieces of varying diameters. 2

Further objects and advantages of this invention will be apparent from the specification and the accompanying drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS F IG. 1 is a perspective view of a collapsible stand embodying the invention;

FIG. 2 is an elevational view of the work-holding saddle of this invention as adjusted for cylindrical workpieces of a relatively large diameter;

FIG. 3 is an elevational view similar to that of FIG. 2 with the work-holding saddle of this invention adjusted to accommodate cylindrical workpieces of a relatively small diameter;

FIG. 4 is a side elevational view of one of the supporting arms which comprise the V-shaped work-holding saddle;

FIG. 5 is an elevational view similar to that of FIGS. 2 and 3 showing further adjustments to the arms and rollers of the work-holding saddle;

FIG. 6 is an elevational view, partially cut away and on an enlarged scale, of the rollers which are mounted on the arms of the work-holding saddle to permit rotation of the workpieces supported thereby;

FIG. 7 is an elevational view of the lower end of the upright support member of the collapsible stand, with a portion of the stand cut 'away to facilitate the illustration; and

FIG. 8 is an elevational view of the lower end of one of the supporting legs of the stand received in one of the chainfastening members of this invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Referring particularly to FIGS. 1 and 2, there is shown a collapsible stand generally designated 10. The stand includes an upright support member comprising a hollow elongate cylindrical tube member 12, which has three relatively short downwardly oriented projections or studs 13 welded to its outer surface at 14. Three leg members 16, made of hollow elongated cylindrical tubes, are slidably fitted over the welded stud projections on the upright member 12.

The collapsible stand is provided with a flexible elongated brace means which, in the embodiment illustrated in the drawings, consists of chains 18. There are three chain sections. A chain section extends between each pair of adjacent legs with the ends of the chain sections fixed to the leg caps 20 and the chain is secured to the upright support 12 intermediate the ends of the chain sections to interconnect each of the legs 16 and the upright support 12 for bracing the legs with respect to the upright support.

Brace-fastening members or leg pads, generally designated 20, are secured to the chain 18 at points along the chain -to receive the lower end of the legs 16. One of the leg pads 20 is seen best in FIG. 8 and includes a cylindrical cap portion 22 which is telescoped over the lower end of one of the legs 16. Formed integrally with the cap is a flat supporting baseplate 24 which rests on the floor or other supporting structure. The cap portion 22 is inclined relative to the base 24 at the same angle which the legs 16 extend outwardly from the upright member 12. A loop portion 26 is formed integrally at the inside juncture of the cap 22 and base 24 for securing the leg pad 20 to the ends of the chain sections 18. The chain sections can be fixed to the loops 26 by chain repair sections in a known manner. Such repair sections comprise two matching V-shaped members which overlap and are secured together to form a link in the chain.

A brace-fastening member, generally designated 26, secures the chain sections 18 to the lower end of the upright support 12. This brace-fastening member consists of a fiat plate 28 which has loops 30 formed integrally therewith through which the chain sections extend. The loops 30 are positioned angularly about the upright support 12 to secure the chain sections 18 to the upright support at points between the legs 16. A plug 32 is welded to the inside of the upright support 12 at the lower end thereof and has a threaded bore 34 for receiving a threaded mounting bolt 36. The plate portion 28 of the chainfastening member 26 has a central hole 38 through which the threaded bolt 36 is inserted to removably fasten the chainfastening member 26 to the lower end of the upright support 12.

The chain sections 18, the leg pads 20 for the legs 16, and the chain-fastening member 26 for the upright member 12 are secured together before assembly to comprise a single bracing assembly.

To assemble the legs to the upright support 12, the leg members are slidably fitted over the stud projections 13 on the tubular upright member 12. The bracing assembly, which includes the chain sections 18, the leg pads 20 and the chainfastening member 26, is then assembled to brace the legs 16 relative to the upright support 12. To do this, the cap portions 22 of the leg pads 20 are telescoped over the lower ends of the legs 16 and then the brace-fastening member 26 is mounted on the lower end of the upright support 12 and is tightened by means of the mounting bolt 36.

A hollow elongate tube member 40 is inserted downwardly into the upright tubular support member 12 and is slidable therein. The tube member 40 has a number of holes 42 (FIG.

3) formed along its length so that it can be adjusted for proper height inside the tube member 12. When the proper height has been selected, a hole 42 of the tube member 40 is matched with a hole 44 on the tube member 12 and a bolt 46 is inserted to secure the member 12 and 40 together. The bolt may be held by a wingnut 48. The tube member 40 is threaded at its upper end to receive a threaded bolt 50. A handle 52 is threaded onto the bolt 50 to adjustably support the bolt on the upper end of the tube member.

The work-holding device of this invention comprises a tubular Y-shaped bracket 56 which is threaded onto the upper end of the bolt 50. The Y-shaped bracket 56 receives a pair of support arms 58 which diverge angularly upwardly therefrom forming a generally V-shaped saddle for receiving a section of pipe or similar cylindrical workpiece. Each of the arms has roller assemblies, generally designated 60, intermediate the ends of the arms on which the pipe is supported. The roller assemblied include rollers 62 which are rotatable about shafts 64 (FIGS. and 6) which are welded to the support arms 58 intermediate the ends of the arms. The Y-shaped bracket 56 is tubular and has sleeves 66 for loosely receiving the support arms 58 so that the arms may easily be inserted and removed from the sleeves 66. Referring to FIGS. 1 through 3, the arms 58 are normally rotated to position the roller assemblies 60 such that the axes of the shafts 64, about which the rollers rotate, extend generally perpendicular to the plane of the V formed by the arms to permit pipe or other cylindrical workpiece to be rotated about the axis of the workpiece while being supported on the rollers as shown in phantom in FIGS. 2 and 3. The arms 58 have a pair of holes 68 spaced lengthwise along the arms adjacent each end thereof. The holes are positioned for alignment with a pair of complementary holes 70 in each of the sleeves 66 of the Y-shaped bracket 56 to receive U- shaped pins 72 to fix the arms 58 in the sleeves 66 and thereby hold the rollers with their axes maintained perpendicular to the plane of the V formed by the arms 58. In this position, the arms are prevented from rotation about their axes relative to the sleeves 66.

In order to accommodate pipe of a number of different diameters, the roller assemblies 60 are disposed along the length of the arms 58 to one side of the midpoint of the arm. Referring to FIG. 4, it can be seen that the arm 58 shown therein has a hole 74 for receiving the shafts 64 of the roller assemblies 60. The hole 74 is disposed to the left of the midpoint of the arm, designated by dotted line 76 (FIG. 4). With this construction, the right-hand end of the arms, as viewed in FIG. 4, may be inserted into the sleeves 66 of the Y bracket 56 so that the roller assemblies 60 are disposed a greater distance away from the apex of the Y formed by the bracket 56 to accommodate relatively large diameter pipe as shown in phantom in FIG. 2. When the left-hand end of the arms, as viewed in FIG. 4, are inserted into the sleeves 66, the straight line distance between the rollers is reduced to accommodate relatively smaller diameter pipe as shown in phantom in FIG. 3. In other words, by varying the distance of the roller assembly from the apex of the V, the straight line distance between the rollers, comprising the third side of a triangle, is varied to accommodate pipe of various diameters.

To accommodate yet two more sizes of pipe, the roller assemblies 60 are each provided with a ball member 78 (FIGS. 5 and 6) rotatably held at one end of the shaft 64. In the embodiment illustrated, each shaft 64 consists of a sleeve through which a ball-headed bolt 80 is inserted to hold the roller assembly together by a nut 82. The ball 78 is rotatably housed within the head portion of the bolt 80 and is seated on small ball bearings 84 within a cavity 86 in the head of the bolt. To position the ball members 78 for supporting a section of pipe, and referring to FIG. 5, the arms 58 have a pair of holes 86 at opposite ends thereof for receiving the pins 72 inserted through the holes 70 in the sleeves 66 of the Y-shaped bracket 56. The holes 86 are disposed 90 away from the holes 68 so that the arms 58 can be rotated to expose the balls 78 within the V or saddle formed by the arms 58. The balls in the end of the roller assemblies accommodate pipe of two different diameters than the rollers 62 since the straight line distance between two given roller assemblies 60 is different than the straight line distance between the rollers of the same assemblies when oriented to support a workpiece. This can be seen by comparing the workpieces shown in phantom in FIGS. 3 and 5 in which the same ends of the arms 58 are inserted into the sleeves 66 but with the arms oriented to expose the rollers (FIG. 3) or the balls (FIG. 5) in the V formed by the arms.

Therefore, with the two sets of roller assemblies 60, including both the rollers 62 and balls 78, four different sizes of pipe can be accommodated by the embodiment illustrated in the drawings. Obviously, the number of roller assemblies and their disposition lengthwise along the arms 58 may easily be varied to accommodate any number of different size pipe.

It is often necessary to weld seams along the workpiece or to weld two pieces of pipe together. Normally, the ground for the welding device is connected to the pipe and, under such circumstances, the rollers 62 should be conductive so that the ground acts through the stand as the pipe is supported thereby. Should the ground be attached directly to the stand, the rollers 62 should preferably be made of rubber or other insulating material to prevent arcing between the pipe and the stand, which would cause scars on the pipe.

The foregoing detailed description has been given for clearness of understanding only and no unnecessary limitations should be understood therefrom as some modification will be obvious to those skilled in the art.

IClaim I l. A work holder, comprising an upright support and means at the top of said upright support for supporting a cylindrical or like-shaped workpiece to permit the workpiece to be rotated about its axis while being supported by the holder, said means including a pair of elongated support arms mounted on said upright support and angularly diverging upwardly therefrom forming a generally V-shaped saddle for receiving the workpiece and with means for securing either end of the arms to the top of said upright support, said support arms each having a support member mounted thereon for supporting the workpiece to permit the workpiece to be rotated about its axis while being supported by the support members, the support members each being secured to its respective support arm at a point closer to one end of the arm than the other so that different diameter workpieces may be accommodated by securing different ends of the arms to the top of the upright support.

2. The work holder of claim 1, wherein said support arms are telescopingly received in a pair of sleeve members at the top of said upright support so that the support arms may easily be secured to and removed form the top of the upright support.

3. The work holder of claim 2 wherein said support arms and said sleeves are tubular and including means to prevent relative rotation therebetween.

4. The workholder of claim 1 wherein said support members on said support arms comprise roller assemblies mounted on the support arms and including roller members rotatable about parallel axes extending generally perpendicular to the plane of said V to permit a cylindrical workpiece to be rotated about its axis while being support on said roller members.

5. A work holder, comprising an upright support and means at the top of said upright support for supporting a cylindrical or like-shaped workpiece to permit the workpiece to be rotated about its axis while being supported by the holder, said means including a pair of support arms mounted on said upright for and angularly diverging upwardly therefrom forming a generally V-shaped saddle for receiving the workpiece, said support arms each having roller assemblies mounted thereon including roller members rotatable about parallel shaft members which rotatably mount the roller members to the support members, the support arms being selectively positionable so as to orient the shaft members generally perpendicular to the plane of said V to permit a cylindrical workpiece to be rotated about its axis while being supported on said roller members, and a rotatable ball member housed in each of said shaft members and protruding therefrom to support a workpiece to permit the workpiece to be rotated, the support arms being adjustable to move the axes of the roller assembly shaft members into the plane of said V and thereby bring the ball members in the ends of the shaft members into position to support the workpiece.

6. The work holder of claim 5 wherein the straight line distance between said ball members when in position to support a workpiece is different from the straight line distance between said rollers when the rollers are positioned to support a workpiece.

7. A work holder, comprising an upright support and means at the top of said upright support for supporting a cylindrical or like-shaped workpiece to permit the workpiece to be rotated about its axis while being supported by the holder, said means including a pair of elongated support arms mounted on said upright support and angularly diverging upwardly therefrom forming a generally V-shaped saddle for receiving the workpiece, said support arms each having a plurality-of support members mounted thereon to permit a cylindrical workpiece to be rotated about its axis while being supported on the support members, the support members on each support arm being variably positioned angularly about the iongitudinal axis of the support arm and extending at varying distances outwardly from the axis of the support arm, and means adjustably mounting the support arms on the upright support to permit the arms to be rotatably adjusted about their longitudinal axes to bring different support members having different straight line distances therebetween into the plane of said V to accommodate different diameter workpieces.

8. The work holder of claim 7 wherein said support arms are tubular and are telescopingly received in a pair of tubular sleeve members at the top of said upright support to permit said rotatable adjustment of the support arms, and including means to prevent relative rotation between the support arms and the sleeves. I v

9. The work holder of claim 7 including means for securing either end of the support arms to the top of said upright support, said support members being secured to support arms at points closer to one end of the support arms than the other so that different diameter workpieces may be accommodated by securing different ends of the arms to the top of the upright support.

10. The work holder of claim 4 wherein said support arms are telescopingly received in a pair of sleeve members at the top of said upright support so that the support arms may easily be secured to and removed from the top of the upright support.

11. The work holder of claim 10 wherein said support arms and said sleeves are tubular and including means to prevent relative rotation therebetween.

12. The work holder of claim 1 wherein said roller assemblies include a shaft member forming the axes of said roller members to rotatably mount said roller members to said support members, and a rotatable ball member housed in one end of said shaft and protruding therefrom to support a workpiece to permit the work piece to be rotated, said support members being adjustable to move the axes of said roller members into the plane of said V and thereby bring the ball members in the ends of said shafts into position to support the workpiece.

13. The work holder of claim 12 wherein the straight line distance between said ball members when in position to support a workpiece is different from the straight line distance between said rollers when the rollers are positioned to support a workpiece. 

1. A work holder, comprising an upright support and means at the top of said upright support for supporting a cylindrical or likeshaped workpiece to permit the workpiece to be rotated about its axis while being supported by the holder, said means including a pair of elongated support arms mounted on said upright support and angularLy diverging upwardly therefrom forming a generally Vshaped saddle for receiving the workpiece and with means for securing either end of the arms to the top of said upright support, said support arms each having a support member mounted thereon for supporting the workpiece to permit the workpiece to be rotated about its axis while being supported by the support members, the support members each being secured to its respective support arm at a point closer to one end of the arm than the other so that different diameter workpieces may be accommodated by securing different ends of the arms to the top of the upright support.
 2. The work holder of claim 1, wherein said support arms are telescopingly received in a pair of sleeve members at the top of said upright support so that the support arms may easily be secured to and removed form the top of the upright support.
 3. The work holder of claim 2 wherein said support arms and said sleeves are tubular and including means to prevent relative rotation therebetween.
 4. The workholder of claim 1 wherein said support members on said support arms comprise roller assemblies mounted on the support arms and including roller members rotatable about parallel axes extending generally perpendicular to the plane of said V to permit a cylindrical workpiece to be rotated about its axis while being support on said roller members.
 5. A work holder, comprising an upright support and means at the top of said upright support for supporting a cylindrical or like-shaped workpiece to permit the workpiece to be rotated about its axis while being supported by the holder, said means including a pair of support arms mounted on said upright for and angularly diverging upwardly therefrom forming a generally V-shaped saddle for receiving the workpiece, said support arms each having roller assemblies mounted thereon including roller members rotatable about parallel shaft members which rotatably mount the roller members to the support members, the support arms being selectively positionable so as to orient the shaft members generally perpendicular to the plane of said V to permit a cylindrical workpiece to be rotated about its axis while being supported on said roller members, and a rotatable ball member housed in each of said shaft members and protruding therefrom to support a workpiece to permit the workpiece to be rotated, the support arms being adjustable to move the axes of the roller assembly shaft members into the plane of said V and thereby bring the ball members in the ends of the shaft members into position to support the workpiece.
 6. The work holder of claim 5 wherein the straight line distance between said ball members when in position to support a workpiece is different from the straight line distance between said rollers when the rollers are positioned to support a workpiece.
 7. A work holder, comprising an upright support and means at the top of said upright support for supporting a cylindrical or like-shaped workpiece to permit the workpiece to be rotated about its axis while being supported by the holder, said means including a pair of elongated support arms mounted on said upright support and angularly diverging upwardly therefrom forming a generally V-shaped saddle for receiving the workpiece, said support arms each having a plurality of support members mounted thereon to permit a cylindrical workpiece to be rotated about its axis while being supported on the support members, the support members on each support arm being variably positioned angularly about the longitudinal axis of the support arm and extending at varying distances outwardly from the axis of the support arm, and means adjustably mounting the support arms on the upright support to permit the arms to be rotatably adjusted about their longitudinal axes to bring different support members having different straight line distances therebetween into the plane of said V to accommodate different diameter workpieces.
 8. The work holder of claim 7 whereiN said support arms are tubular and are telescopingly received in a pair of tubular sleeve members at the top of said upright support to permit said rotatable adjustment of the support arms, and including means to prevent relative rotation between the support arms and the sleeves.
 9. The work holder of claim 7 including means for securing either end of the support arms to the top of said upright support, said support members being secured to support arms at points closer to one end of the support arms than the other so that different diameter workpieces may be accommodated by securing different ends of the arms to the top of the upright support.
 10. The work holder of claim 4 wherein said support arms are telescopingly received in a pair of sleeve members at the top of said upright support so that the support arms may easily be secured to and removed from the top of the upright support.
 11. The work holder of claim 10 wherein said support arms and said sleeves are tubular and including means to prevent relative rotation therebetween.
 12. The work holder of claim 1 wherein said roller assemblies include a shaft member forming the axes of said roller members to rotatably mount said roller members to said support members, and a rotatable ball member housed in one end of said shaft and protruding therefrom to support a workpiece to permit the work piece to be rotated, said support members being adjustable to move the axes of said roller members into the plane of said V and thereby bring the ball members in the ends of said shafts into position to support the workpiece.
 13. The work holder of claim 12 wherein the straight line distance between said ball members when in position to support a workpiece is different from the straight line distance between said rollers when the rollers are positioned to support a workpiece. 